The Tsavo Man-Eating Lions

or

The Ghost and the Darkness, the true story!

Updated 10-19-2004 Email address updated..

This page is about
one of the greatest incidents of man-eating animals of all time. Although
there are stories about tigers in India that have eaten more people, no story
is more well-known, or is as chilling and intriguing as the story of the Tsavo
Maneaters. Indeed, these lions have the notoriety of being mentioned in
British Parliament! It is considered the most famous adventure story in all of
Africa. Oxford historian Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, in his book:
Millennium, A History of the Last Thousand Years devotes two whole
pages to this story out of the seven hundred pages in his book!

Back in 1898, the British decided to build a railroad in East Africa. This
railroad would stretch from Mombasa on the coast of modern-day Kenya to
Lake Victoria, and later into Uganda. This railroad, called the Uganda
Railroad was also referred to as 'The Lunatic Line'. It was said by it's
opponents to go 'from nowhere to utterly nowhere'.

Nevertheless, this railroad had some legitimate purposes to exist. In those
days, the only route into the interior of the African continent was on foot.
There was much in the way of agricultural goods and other wares that could
not easily reach market due to the lack of transportation. Missionaries had
considerable trouble reaching the rich 'fields' in central Africa. Finally,
there was was the nagging slave trade problem. It was hoped that good
transportation would encourage people living in the interior of the continent
that there were better ways of making a living than capturing slaves.

The construction of this railroad remains one of the great engineering
feats of the late 1800's. It's 580 miles of track had to cross the great rift
valley, several rivers, and some of the most inhospitable territory you could
imagine. Construction started in 1896, and reached what is today Nairobi in
1899. It finally reached Kismu on Lake Victoria in 1901. It took 27 more years
for the railroad to actually be extended to Kampala, Uganda.

Much of the labor to build the railroad was supplied by indentured Indian
laborers. These workers are often referred to in the accounts of those days as
'Coolies'. (India was part of the British empire in those days, along with much
of East Africa.) These Indian workers at first didn't do very well. It is said
by some that the vast majority of them (>90 percent) ultimately succumbed to
disease and accidents. Many of those that survived stayed on, forming the
not-insignificant Indian presence found in East Africa today.

Indeed, this railroad still runs today, although it has lost much of it's
splendor. Many tour groups build a ride on the 'Lunatic Line' into their
tour packages.

But, this incredible story deals with only a tiny part of this monumental
project: The construction of a bridge across the Tsavo river, about 132 miles
Northwest of Mombasa. We will get to the story a bit later.

Another maneater at the Field Museum?

In September, 1991, while on a hunting safari to Zambia, Africa, Wayne Hosek
was asked by the locals if he could help hunt down a maneating lion that had
been terrorizing the town of Mfuwe. Wayne agreed to take on the task. With some
serious effort put forth, the lion was finally shot about two weeks later.
It turned out to be a spectacular specimen-- the largest man-eating lion ever
recorded. Like the Tsavo maneaters, it, too was a maneless male. Wayne, well
aware of the story of the Tsavo maneaters, and their less-than-perfect
mounting job, saw to it that this lion's skin was properly collected and
dried. Later, Wayne had this lion mounted (taxidermy work done by the noted
taxidermist Bob Snow). He then donated it to the Field Museum. It went on
display in 1999.

All in all, the Maneater of Mfuwe was responsible for eating at least six
people.

The Maneater of Mfuwe is not on display with the Tsavo maneaters. Instead,
it is in the museum's lower level, near the children's exhibits. Going down the
staircase from near the Egypt exhibit, you will find the Maneater of Mfuwe
under the staircase. This kind of odd location displays the lion in the best
possible way. It is possible to closely examine the lion from all angles. The
first impression one gets from looking at this lion is that it is HUGE! One
also notices that this mount is properly proportioned, giving you an idea of
what a large male lion looks like without the mane. All notoriety aside, this
is a fine specimen to study. In any case, this lion is worth a good, long
look. (While in the lower level area, also check out the fine statues there by
Carl Ackley.)

The Field Museum does have a small
webpage about the Maneater of Mfuwe. There, you will find a detailed
account of the taking of this lion, as well as an interesting photo showing
Mfuwe "coming" out of his shipping crate. Wayne Hosek has also just
created a site about the Maneater of Mfuwe. It can be found at:
www.maneaterofmfuwe.com. He has
some interesting items there for sale, including a hardcopy version of his
story, and a replica of one of Mfuwe's canines.

Tsavo Article appears in 'National Geographic'!

An article about lions of the Tsavo area appears in the April 2002 issue of
National Geographic magazine. The article discusses some of the unique
challenges to survival that Tsavo lions face. The controversial issue as to why
some Tsavo lions lack manes is explored by Peyton West of the Lion Research
Institute. Using her life-sized stuffed toy lions with interchangeable manes, she
comes up with some interesting science. You can read some additional material
about the article at
www.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0204/ You can read some of Peyton West's
papers at www.lionresearch.org

Organization of this page

Here is a description of how this page is
organized. This page contains the master index, as well as a brief account of
the true story.

The 'Field Museum of Natural History' page describes the place where the
Tsavo Maneaters currently 'live', and how they got there. There is also a
great deal of information about what the Field Museum is doing these days
in terms of Tsavo Maneaters-related research. Recent discoveries have resulted
in a major research inititave that will eventually result in the construction
of two Tsavo Maneater interpretive centers. These will be located in Tsavo
National Park in Kenya!

The 'Ghost and the Darkness' page is devoted to the 1996 movie that caused
a resurgence in interest of the Tsavo Maneater story.

The 'Bwana Devil' page describes a 1952 movie about the Tsavo Maneaters that
is also the first feature-length 3D movie ever produced.

The 'Tsavo Maneaters Pictures Page' is a page of pictures I have taken of
the infamous lions in my visits to the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois.
There, I also share some of my own thoughts concerning the Tsavo Maneaters.

The 'Tsavo Maneater Resources' page is a listing of books, movies,
documentaries, internet resources, etc. concerning the Tsavo Maneaters. There
is also information there on how to obtain most of these resources for
yourself.

The Tsavo Maneater Pages!

The Tsavo Maneater Story

Patterson's book now online!

You can now read the 'Maneaters of Tsavo' online! The entire contents of
the original book, including 120 photographs, are now on the web, courtesy of
Charles Hall. Click
here to begin your adventure! (Note: this book is now public domain.)
There, you will find the book online in a variety of formats.

You can still buy the paper book, 'The Maneaters of Tsavo' by Colonel J.H.
Patterson. It is readily available at most bookstores. More information on
this book (And two editions are typically available) can be found on the
Tsavo Maneater Resources page of this
site.

The purpose of this section is to give a
brief account of what happened at the Tsavo River bridge construction site in
1898. What follows is a condensed version of the story.

The work Begins

The year was 1898. Railhead (The point where
track is (The point where
track is being laid on a railroad construction project.) of the Uganda Railway
had reached, and passed the Tsavo river in late February of that year. A
temporary bridge had been built over the Tsavo River so that construction
could proceed as quickly as possible. It was now the job of Colonel John Henry
Patterson to oversee construction of a permanent bridge over this river. The
bridge would be approximately 100 yards long.

Patterson, still a young man in his early 30's, had recently come from
India, having oversaw some civil engineering projects there. There are some
who doubt whether or not Patterson was really the architect of the bridge,
citing lack of any records of training in that discipline. Internal evidence
in his account, however, indicates that if he wasn't the architect, he was
very close to being the architect.

In any case, he arrived in Mombasa on March 1st, 1898, knowing he was to be
somehow involved with the construction of the Uganda Railway. A week later, he
was ordered to proceed to Tsavo, and oversee the construction of the railway
there. One of the more important tasks there would be to construct a permanent
bridge over the Tsavo River.

Work on the bridge began in short order. One of the more daunting tasks
needing to be accomplished to build the bridge was to find suitable stone for
the foundation piers. This was found about 3 miles away, and required the
construction of a tram line to this site. The tram line itself required two
temporary bridges to be erected over the Tsavo River. The foundations of the
piers were a lot of trouble to construct, with the coffer dams built around
them failing more than once. It was also necessary to go much deeper into the
riverbed than originally anticipated to find solid rock. Nevertheless, the
work proceeded fairly smoothly.

The Maneaters First Appear on the Scene

It was not many days after Colonel Patterson
arrived that reports started coming in about workers disappearing. Although it
was told him that lions were responsible, Patterson at first didn't believe it.
When he finally investigated, it was quickly (and gruesomely!) discovered that
not one but two lions were responsible for killing the workers. Early attempts
to shoot the lions were unsuccessful. The lions seemed to be able to predict
what Patterson would do next. And, with camps scattered up and down the
railway for 30 miles, the lions could strike in a different camp each night.

The workers soon constructed thorn bomas (A boma is a thorn
fence erected around a dwelling or corral designed to keep predators such
as lions out.) around their camps, and kept fires burning at night to try to
scare off the lions. But it didn't work. The lions literally ignored the
thorns, and would drag themselves and their meals right through them. This
caused no small concern among the workers.

Still, there were a couple of lucky escapes. One night, a lion attacked a
man riding a donkey. The donkey was knocked over and the man knocked off. The
lion moved in for the kill, and somehow got his claws hooked on a rope tied to
some oil cans that had been around the donkey's neck. The lion couldn't
immediately figure out how to unhook the rope, and the oil cans were making a
terrible racket. The noise frightened the lion so much that it ran off back
into the bush, dragging the oil cans with it. The rider escaped to the safety
of a tree and stayed there the rest of the night.

Another time, one of the lions broke into a tent, and was intent on carrying
off the occupant who was sleeping on a mattress. Instead, somehow, the lion
got hold of the mattress and pulled it out from under the man. Soon realizing
it's mistake, the lion dropped the mattress and ran off. Another time, one of
the lions jumped onto a tent containing 14 Indian 'Coolies'. The lion broke
through the tent, clawing up one man's shoulder in the process. Somehow in the
ensuing confusion, the lion grabbed a sack of rice and made off with that
instead. The lion 'threw it down in disgust' a short distance away and beat a
hasty retreat.

At first, the effect of the lions grisly habits on the workers wasn't too
great, because the camps were spread out over a large area. But, a large area. But, as the
railhead pushed Northwestward, only a few hundred workers were left at Tsavo
to build the bridge. The lions now directed their efforts on this one camp,
and this is when the morale at Tsavo really began to drop!

One night, one of the lions attacked the hospital tent. At first, he was
scared away when the doctor's assistant knocked over a cabinet of supplies in
fright. But, the lion tried again. Breaking through the tent, he seized one of
the patients, and injured 2 of the other patients. It was decided after that
to move the hospital tent. The very next night, a lion attacked the new
hospital tent! Many of it's occupants got to witness the lion seize, kill
and drag through the thorn boma the hospital's water-carrier. The
next day, (as was usually the case for these lions) all that was left of the
water-carrier was his head, a few of the larger bones, and part of his hand.

The hospital-tent was moved again, and an even thicker boma was
erected around it. A supply wagon was parked at the previous hospital tent
location, and some cattle were tied up inside the boma as bait.
Colonel Patterson and the Doctor stayed up all night, hoping to get a shot
at the lions. Their vigilance was rewarded, as one lions jumped into the
boma. Patterson and the doctor figured that the lion had silently
dispatched one of the cattle and was trying to find a place to get out of
the boma. Unbeknownst to them, the front entrance to the boma
was not properly secured, and the lion exited by this route. It then
proceeded to stalk Patterson and the Doctor. Luckily for them, they figured
this out in time. The lion attacked, and Patterson got off a shot. This scared
off the lion. Colonel Patterson writes much later in the Field Museum account
of that incident that he believes that he shot one of the canine teeth out of
the mouth of that lion. If this was indeed the case, this lion was the one now
known as maneater #1. The date was April 23rd.

Troubles with the Workmen

The Colonel had other problems from time to
time with the workmen. Just as today, there are those who would go out of
their way to get out of a bad job, slack off, get in trouble, etc. One
particular workman had instigated a fight amongst other workers. To escape
punishment, he feigned seriously ill, and begged strong drink as medicine. The
other workers told Patterson he was faking it, and a physical examination
turned up nothing. Still, the 'sick' worker begged 'medicine'. Finally,
Colonel Patterson gave him 'medicine'! He ordered the man's head covered with
a blanket. He then started a fire in some wood shavings underneath his
stretcher. the man, realizing he was about to be burned, ran out of
Patterson's tent, yelling 'unbelieving devil'! A few of the other workers got a
chance to whack him with sticks as he ran out. His amused coworkers were very
pleased with this 'punishment', and this particular worker never caused
trouble again.

Another time, Patterson came up quietly to the rock quarry after a long
night hunting the maneaters. No work was going on. Everyone was lounging,
playing cards, etc. After observing this for some time, Patterson fired his
rifle into the air. Suddenly, the quarry was alive with work! The workers
were all fined for this, and the foreman was demoted. However, two
workers decided that Colonel Patterson had accidently shot them in the course
of this incident. They came to his boma, bleeding profusely from 'shot
holes' they had made in themselves. Of course, their case was blown out of the
water when they realized the Colonel had fired a rifle shot and not a shotgun
shot.

Not happy that they had to do an honest days' work for their wages, some
workmen decided the best thing to do was eliminate Patterson. They held a
secret council to prepare a plan to accomplish this, but Patterson learned of
it within a few hours. He had trouble believing the workers would resort to
murder!

Upon visiting the works the next morning, September 6th, all at first
seemed normal. However, some workmen were seen moving about in a suspicious
way. It wasn't long before an insurrection broke out, and the Colonel was
attacked. He managed to quickly escape to the top of a nearby rock, and
immediately proceeded to address the workers. He told them that their plot was
known about, and no one would be able to get away with it. He was then able to
win back the workers' cooperation, and the work went on.

But, the trouble wasn't completely over. Another plot on Colonel Patterson's
life was formed, and again quickly discovered. This time, Colonel Patterson
had the Railway Police dispatched to his location. Within a few days, they had
arrested the ringleaders of the plots. They were tried and convicted in
Mombasa. This was the end of the troubles with the workers. Now, it was again
the lions' turn!

The Reign of Terror

After the incident at the old hospital site,
the lions left the area for a few months, and later accounts report people were
disappearing at other camps some miles away. During this time, a considerable
amount of effort was spent building an elaborate trap using a boxcar, to be
ready should the lions return. The boxcar was divided into two compartments by
strong bars. A trip wire was arranged to drop a gate made of railroad rails
over the entrance to one of the compartments. (For lack of a suitable drill,
Colonel Patterson 'drilled' holes in the rail sections with his .303 rifle!)
There was a small, secure entrance into the other compartment.
Thorns were piled all around the boxcar. For the first few nights, Colonel
Patterson sat inside the secure compartment, acting as human bait. Should a
lion sense his presence inside the boxcar, it would enter and trip on the trip
wire. The gate would fall and trap the lion in the first compartment. The
Colonel could dispatch the lion at his leisure from behind the strong bars.
After a few days, he got some other people to take turns manning this trap.

The lions had been gone for so long that the workers started to let down
their guard a little. This didn't last long. One night, some of the Coolies
had decided to sleep outside their tent, but inside the boma. This
would not be their lucky night. One of the lions jumped into the boma.
Although stones and firebrands were hurled at the lion, it selected a victim,
and dragged it out of the boma through the thorns! Outside the
boma, the other lion joined the first one, and they enjoyed their meal
not 30 yards away. Even though shots were fired at the lions, none of them
made their mark, and the lions went right on eating.

Soon, a sort of routine would settle in. The lions would be heard roaring
in the vicinity of one of the camps (They were again spread out up and down
the rail line.). Suddenly, they would stop roaring. Word would go from camp to
camp, 'Beware brothers, the devil is coming!'. There would be agonizing
shrieks from somewhere in the camp, and one less person at roll call the next
morning.

Every night, Colonel Patterson and others would stay up, hoping to get a
shot at one of the lions. They never did.

The lions were getting bolder and bolder. Some nights, they would each take
a victim, so they wouldn't have to share. They could go undetected right
through the thorn fences. One night, a bunch of Coolies escaped the lions to
the safety of a tree. They so heavily loaded the tree that it collapsed,
throwing them to the ground very close to the lions. But, the lions didn't
care. They had already caught a victim and were too busy feasting on him.

One night, the lions caught a victim and carried it close to Colonel
Patterson's camp to devour. He vividly remembers the sound of bones being
crunched and contented 'purring'. It took days to get these sounds out of his
head. (Lions actually can't purr like smaller felines. They have a rough
'pseudo purr' they don't often use.)

Finally, on December 1st, the workers approached Colonel Patterson and told
him they would no longer be 'food for lions or devils'. As soon as this
ultimatum was delivered, the workers went out and threw themselves down on the
tracks in front of the next train. They then climbed on every available seat,
and left Tsavo. The entire railway project ground to a halt. Only a small
number of workers were brave enough to stay behind. These workers took up
residence in trees, atop water in trees, atop water tanks, or in underground pits covered with
logs.

On December 3rd, the Superintendent of Police arrived with twenty men to
help hunt down the lions. It was on that night that one of the lions finally
entered the rail-car trap. There were three armed men in the secure part of
the trap. After the gate had fallen, the lion began to thrash at the bars,
scaring the men silly. Finally, they got their courage up and began firing.
Even though they could have touched the body of the lion with the muzzles of
their rifles, nobody succeeded in getting a shot into it. Instead, one of the
shots broke the chain holding the gate shut. The lion escaped with very minor
injuries. The superintendent of Police, his men, Patterson and others tried
to track the lions. Although one person got a brief glimpse, they again
escaped! They tried again for two more days to track the lions. No success.
The Superintendent and his men could not afford to stay any longer. Patterson
was again left alone with the lions.

Death of the 1st Maneater

On the morning of December 9, an African man
came running to Colonel Patterson, shouting 'Simba! Simba!' (lion in Swahili).
Patterson learned that a lion had tried to capture a man from his camp a
short distance away, and had failed. So, the lion killed a donkey and was busy
eating it. The Superintendent of police had left Patterson a had left Patterson a heavy rifle, so
he grabbed it, and ran off with the man. After a patient stalk, Patterson and
this man were nearly on to the lion. But the man stepped on a rotten stick,
which broke with a snap. The lion was scared off into a thicket.

Patterson then rounded up his remaining Coolies, and instructed them to
bring along things to make noise with. They surrounded the thicket. Patterson
then stood at an animal trail coming out of the thicket. On his signal, the
Coolies advanced, making all sorts of racket. It was then that Colonel
Patterson actually saw one of the maneaters for the first time- a huge maneless
male. He lifted his weapon to fire. Click! The twin-barreled rifle misfired!
Intimidated by the noise, the lion jumped past Patterson and started to run
off. He finally remembered he had another shot in his rifle and fired. He
managed to hit the lion in the back, but it got away.

Dismayed, Colonel Patterson went back and looked at the donkey. The lion had
just began it's meal on the hindquarters. (Lions like to start eating on the
hindquarters because there is a lot of meat there without a lot of bones.) A
nice donkey like this would be too good of a meal to abandon. The lion might
return to finish his meal.

Then, Patterson had an inspiration. Taking 4 poles, and a plank of wood, he
constructed a platform in close to the donkey carcass. This platform,
called a machan, would serve as an artifical 'tree' from which to hunt
the lion. (There were no nearby trees to sit in.) He lashed the donkey carcass
to a nearby tree stump with wire, so it couldn't be dragged off. Normally,
Patterson would stand vigil with his gun-bearer (Colonel Patterson was an
experienced big game hunter.), but tonight, he was sick. So, he began that
night's vigil alone.

It wasn't long before Patterson heard a twig snap and a sigh of hunger. The
lion had indeed returned! But, as he watched, he determined the lion had
detected him. Now, the lion was stalking Colonel Patterson! For two hours, the
lion circled the rickety platform. All the lion would have to do is knock out
a pole, or jump at the platform to dislodge Patterson. Instant easy meal! The
whole situation made Patterson's flesh crawl.

Suddenly, something hit Patterson on the head! It turned out to be an owl
that had confused him for a tree branch. He quickly recovered his wits. Below,
the lion growled, and moved in for the kill! Very carefully, Patterson raised
his rifle and fired. There was an angry growl, and the lion jumped around all
over. He jumped into the bushes. Patterson fired away into bushes. The growls
continued, but were growing weaker. They finally ceased altogether. One of
the maneaters were finally dead!

Word quickly spread to the camps, and a wild celebration ensued. The next
morning, the body of the lion was recovered. He was a maneless . He was a maneless male, 9 feet,
8 inches long from tip of nose to tip of tail. The lion had taken two shots--
one in the shoulder penetrating the heart (Probably the first shot), and
another in one of the hind legs. It took 8 men to carry it to camp, and soon it
was in the skinning shed.

Death of the Second Maneater

There was peace for a few days. Then, a
railroad Inspector in the Tsavo camp was paid a visit one night by a lion
outside his house. Thinking it was just a drunken Coolie, he ignored it and
didn't open the door. Robbed of a human for dinner, the lion made a quick meal
of two of the Inspector's goats.

The next night, Colonel Patterson camped out in a shanty close to the
Inspector's home. He tied three full-grown goats to a 250 pound piece of
railroad rail. He then entered the shanty, and watched and waited. Just before
dawn, the lion came. He killed one of the goats, and began to carry it off--
along with the railroad rail and the other two still-live goats. Patterson
fired, but only managed to kill one of the goats!

When morning came, it was not hard to follow the trail of the goats and the
railroad rail. The lion was quickly found, still feasting on goat-meat. Upon
being discovered, the lion charged Patterson and the men that were with him.
Luckily, the lion was more concerned with getting away than with attacking, so
he ran right by Patterson and another man, escaping into the bushes. From
there, the lion slunk away, and could not be tracked.

Colonel Patterson had a strong platform erected near the goat carcasses.
That night, he and his gun-bearer took turns watching from the platform. The
lion did indeed return, and Patterson was able to get two shots into the lion's
shoulder. Unfortunately, the lion got away. Some more shots were fired into
the bushes, but nothing more happened.

The next morning, the blood trail was easily spotted and followed. However,
it soon grew faint and disappeared altogether. 10 days passed without any
further incident. Everybody hoped the lion had gone into the bush and quietly
died. Nevertheless, no one lowered their guard.

This turned out to be a good thing, for on the evening of December 27th,
the lion was discovered trying to get at a man sleeping in a tree close to
Colonel Patterson's boma. Because the night was so dark, nothing could
be done but fire some warning shots. The next day, an inspection revealed the
lion had explored all of the tents in the camp (Which were empty because
most of the workers had fled), and had stalked the man in the tree at length.

The next night, Colonel Patterson and his gun-bearer took up a position
in the same tree. (Patterson was almost bitten by a poisonous snake in the
process!) He took turns standing watch with his gun-bearer. At 2 AM, Patterson. At 2 AM, Patterson
handed the watch over to his gun bearer, and dozed off. An hour later, he
suddenly woke up, sensing something was wrong. At first, nothing was seen, but
eventually, the man-eater came into to view, patiently stalking them! With great
fascination, the two men watched the lion stalk them, taking advantage of every
bit of the sparse cover in their vicinity. Just as patiently, Patterson
readied his rifle. When the lion was 20 yards away, he fired. It was a hit,
but it failed to knock down the lion. The now-angry lion ran off, growling
fiercely. Three more shots were fired, one of which also hit him.

The next morning, Colonel Patterson, his gun-bearer and a native tracker
set off after the lion. The bloody trail was easy to follow. About a quarter
mile away, they found him. He was hiding in the grass, glaring at the men with
bared teeth.

Patterson aimed carefully, and took a shot. The lion then charged him with
all the muster it had left. Another shot knocked him over, but he got up and
continued his charge. A third shot had no effect. He reached for another
rifle, only to discover his gun-bearer had abandoned him to the safety of a
tree. Patterson had no choice but to follow suit. If one of the shots hadn't
broken a hind leg, Patterson would have never made it. Once in the tree,
the Colonel grabbed a carbine from his gun-bearer and shot the lion once more.
The lion collapsed.

Rather foolishly, Patterson quickly climbed down. To his complete surprise,
the lion charged again! A shot in the chest and another in the head (Look
at the skull on the pictures page) finally did the brute in. Even so, the
lion bit savagely at a branch until the last bit of life drained out of him.

Colonel Patterson had all he could do to prevent the dead lion from being
torn apart by the workers. He had it carried to his nearby boma for
examination. This lion (also a maneless male) had taken at least six shots.
There was also a slug buried not far into the flesh of the back. This was the
slug from the shot fired 10 days before. In any case, this lion measured 9
feet, 6 inches from tip of nose to tip of tail. Soon, this lion took it's turn
in the skinning shed.

Just like a fairy tale, this story has a happy ending. The workers
returned,The bridge was finished, and the railhead reached what would soon be
Nairobi. On January 30th, 1899, the workers presented a silver bowl to
Colonel Patterson in return for the bravery he had shown in relentlessly
hunting down the maneaters.

The day after the bridge was complete, and all of the temporary rigging
removed, a torrential downpour washed away both of the trolley bridges that
had been constructed to move the stone from the quarry to the bridge!

Colonel Patterson left East Africa in late 1899. He did return in 1906, and
spent several years there as a game warden. re as a game warden. It was during this time that he
wrote 'The Man-Eaters of Tsavo'. The book was published, and became immensely
popular. In 1924, he sold the skins and skulls of the man-eaters to the Field
Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois. The skins were converted from
rugs to mounts, and were first put on display in 1928. They have been on
display ever since. Read the 'Field Museum of
Natural History' page for more details on what happened after the Tsavo
Maneater incident was over!